Chapter Text
Sakura was never a normal child, he had weird eyes, weird hair and to top it all off he had an ability. It would be nice to have powers, if Sakura didn’t want to fit in. He could make Sakura flowers appear out of nowhere and throw them like a dagger.
He showed it once to his ‘friend’ saying he could make them appear. The other was very excited but when he showed it he just screamed and ran away. He went and ran away to his parents. They stared at him with horrified expressions.
But Sakura bolted before they could try to do anything. That’s the day he found out that he could trust no one. The only thing he remembered after that was running, and running, and running. He ran for hours.
When he stopped running he didn’t know where he was, he didn’t know this place. He walked a bit, trying to find something familiar, but he couldn’t find anything. He really needed to rest, he couldn’t walk further. Finding a place was his priority. He found a place under a bridge, keeping him dry and out of sight.
He found a corner where that wasn’t too filthy and went sit there, pulling his hood over his face. After some time Sakura finally fell asleep.
Fukuzawa pov
Apparently they found a new ability user a few towns over and they ran close to here. He looked about 8 years old, had heterochromia and albinism in his hair. He can summon flowers. If we listen to the rumors they say he’s dangerous and needs to be locked up, but what could a 8 year old have done to scare adults. I knew that he couldn’t ask Dazai to find the kid and the others were busy so I would have to go.
_ _
Now here I was walking, trying to find the kid. I looked at places where it wasn't crowded. But I had no luck. That doesn’t mean I will stop, the kid ran away for a reason and I need to find him.
I walked farther when I heard ruffling under the bridge. What was that? I walked silently. When I arrived under the bridge, I saw a small figure sleeping in the corner.
I couldn’t really see his face because they wore a hood but he could see a patch of white hair and the kid looked around 8 years old. It fits the description. I walked silently trying not to wake the kid up. But when I got closer I accidentally stepped on a wrapper lying on the ground and the kid shot awake.
The kid seemed horrified. Before I could say anything the kid threw some of his flowers. So that’s why they said he was dangerous. But he’s just scared?
I took out my sword and deflected his daggers. “I did nothing!" “Leave me alone!” The kid started screaming. “Kid,” I said in a stern voice. The kid froze, trembling from head to toe. Seeing that, I sheathed his sword “I’m not trying to hurt you. I just want to talk.” I said, my voice softened. “Over what?! I didn’t do anything!” The kid yelled back, his voice was trembling. He was definitely terrified.
“About your ability.” The silence stretched.” I didn’t hurt anyone.” The kid said, his voice now barely over a whisper.
“ I know.” The kid’s heterochromic eyes widened. “ Then why do you want to talk?” His voice was wary again.” If you know I did nothing…”
“I want to bring you to my agency.”
The kid’s defensive look instantly melted into confusion.”I’m eight.” He answered flatly, as if stating an obvious fact.
“No, I won’t make you work. But you need a place to stay.Right?" The kid looked dumbfounded.”Besides.” I added, looking the kid up and down. “You look like you’re about to fall over from exhaustion.”
The kid's face turned crimson in a split second.” I-I can take care of myself.” He sputtered. I raised an eyebrow. ”Weren’t you the one who just said you’re only eight?”
“It’s not the same!” I could see the kid trying to come up with an excuse. “And look, I can still walk!” He walked a few confident steps forward-and landed right on his backside.
I used all my willpower to hide my laughter.The kid’s face just turned a deeper shade of crimson, I didn’t know the human body could do that.
“So I’m assuming you’re coming?” The kid started pouting, crossing his arms.
“No, I can walk." I just…just, uh… I only fell because the floor is slippery.” “Then why are you still sitting on the ground?”
“Because I want to!” The kid jelled, glaring at me. “And I can do whatever I want!” I did my best to keep my face entirely neutral.
“ If you say so.” I let out a dramatic sigh.
“ I was going to ask you to come eat dinner with me because I didn’t want to eat alone. But it looks like I have to go by myself now.”
I turned around, taking a long step forward.”W-wait don’t go!” Using the last of his energy, the kid scrambled up, rushed over, and desperately tugged at the sleeve of my yukata. I turned back around, looking at him.”You want to come?” The kid nodded shyly.
We walked a bit but I could see he was going to fall asleep at any moment.”Kid.”
“U-hu…” He mumbled, he looked exactly like a sleepy cat. “Do you want me to carry you? You seem tired.”
The kid didn’t even argue, just extended his arms towards me.I lifted him up and the second he rested his head on my shoulder, he was out like a light. I decided to just go to the agency, I figured I could buy him something to eat when he wakes up.
I walked calmly to the agency with the kid in my arms. And when I came back it seemed that the other members were already back from their duties.
“President, you’re back.” Kunikida greeted me, but his eyes immediately landed on the bundle in my arms. “And… May I ask who that is?”
“That’s the ability user I went looking for.” I replied softly. “I suppose he was sleepy.”
“New ability user?” Atsushi chimed in, leaning forward. “Where?” Kunikida pointed to the sleeping kid.
”OMG! He looks like a kitten!”Dazai shouted. Everyone shushed him. That idiot. The noise made the kid stir a little, he put his face in the crook of my neck, seeking comfort.
“Great.I’m getting replaced by a child.” Ranpo sighed dramatically from his desk. But everyone just ignored him.
Everyone started cooing at how adorable he was.. “So what’s his name?” Kyoka asked. “ It was not noted in the report.” I admitted. “I was planning on asking him over dinner but he fell asleep on the way.”
I knew that when he woke up he was going to be scared so I just held him in my arms while working.
_ _
I was writing my reports when he stirred awake, his heterochromic eyes widening.
” Hey there, sleepyhead.” I said softly.His face turned crimson in an instant.
“You fell asleep in my arms so I took you to the agency.” I explained before he could panic.
"Are you hungry?” The kid didn’t even get the chance to answer before his stomach grumbled loudly.
“We’re gonna to get you something to eat then.” I smiled softly, getting up and setting him down on his feet.
“They’re some people outside the office, but don’t worry. They won’t hurt you.” He looked highly skeptical but nodded softly anyway. I took his small hand in mine and opened the door.
He hid behind me as we walked forward. But the moment we arrived in the main room all of the agency members were there.
The kid jumped out of surprise but before he could pull out his ability, someone grabbed him by his armpits, like a stay kitten, and hoisted him up.
“Let me go you asshole!” The kid screamed, he tried to get away, wiggling around.
“Dazai, put him down. You’re overwhelming him.” Dazai pouted a bit before letting him go.
The kid sprinted at my side. He pointed the middle finger at Dazai, pulling his tongue out. Dazai gasped,offended.
“Kid.” My voice dropping into a stoic, warning tone. The kid froze, snapping his head to look at me with his big, sad kitten eyes. “Sorry.” He mumbled.
I patted his head. “It’s okay. Just don’t do it again.” The others came more calmly, seeing that the kid was still skittish.
“Hi, you can call me Atsushi, we got you some food if you want.” Atsushi said with a soft smile.
So we decided to head down to Uzumaki to eat.
_ _
When we sat down at the booth, Ranpo slid in the seat in front of the kid, while I sat next to him.
“Soo…Do you want to play a game?” Ranpo asked, while grinning mischievously.
"What kind of game?” The kid asked while eyeing Ranpo suspiciously.
“I’m gonna guess your favorite food.
”The kid just looked at him unimpressed and said flatly. “ That’s not a game, you just want to show how cool you are.”
Ranpo let out a dramatic sigh, crossing his arms.
“I remember the other kids doing that.” He added, raising a sceptical eyebrow. ”You’re pretty childish.” Everyone started laughing, they weren’t expecting him to say that.
“Why are you guys laughing?! This is not funny!” Ranpo whined, he was still pouting, while Dazai was practically wheezing. “You got him good kid!”
A moment later, the food came and the waitress gave the kid a plate of omurice.
The kid glanced up at Ranpo who was now grinning triumphantly because he guessed right after all.. But the boy was too hungry to care.
He started wolfing his food down at an alarming rate. I needed to gently intervene a few times so he didn't choke.
“Kid, you’re holding your spoon wrong.” I noted. The kid’s face immediately turned a light shade of red. I took the spoon out of his little fingers, placed it back correctly, then continued to let him eat.
_ _
“What’s your name?” I asked quietly. The kid glanced up, then looked back down. He mumbled something inaudible.
“What did you say?” I asked softly, keeping my voice gentle so I don’t make him feel pressured. ”Sakura Haruka!” He yelled suddenly, his face flushing back to his familiar, crimson color.
That’s cute, I thought to myself. “It's matching with your ability then.” Haruka gave me a completely deadpan look. “ No, it doesn’t. It's another kanji for ‘Haruka’ . It uses the kanji for distant.”
That’s really sad, who would give such a name to their child.
“Oh… Haruka sweetie.” Yosano murmured softly. She walked closer, crouching in front of Haruka, and took his little hands in her own.
“But now that I think about it, have you already shown that ability of yours to us yet?” Yosano said, smoothly changing the subject.
“You guys actually… want to see it?!” Haruka’s heterochromic eyes instantly lit up.
"Yeah!" “Most of us here have abilities, too!” Kenji chimed in, overflowing in his bright energy.
“It’s always fun to see new abilities,” Jun'ichiro added, who practically came out of nowhere.
“Just watch where you throw them, Haruka.” I warned calmly. Because I don't think anyone wants a flower-dagger embedded in their head.
Haruka beamed even more at my words.”Wait, I can throw them?!” I sighted softly. “Yes Haruka, you can. But don’t make me regret my decision.”
“ Sir, yes sir!” He yelled while snapping a proud military salute.
“Look now, at the great Haruka!”
He stood up on his chair with chest puffed, and then he made a flurry of Sakura flowers.
The entire table melted. Everyone started cooing around him“That’s so cute Haruka!” They cooed and cried out.
“Stop, you're gonna miss the most important part!” He pouted.
And then with a flick of his wrist he hardened them into little daggers, and threw them with surprising speed-just above Dazai’s head.
Everybody froze for a second. Dazai was staring at the wall. Processing that Haruka-an eight year old, wanted to stab him.
And then they erupted in loud cheers. “Our little Haruka’s so cute with his little daggers!” Completely unfazed by the weapons.
_ _
“So what are your abilities?”Haruka asked while leaning forward on the table.
Everyone started talking about their ability and how they work.”So,I can stab Dazai because it won’t work on him?”
I blinked.Does he already hold a grudge against him?
“ Yeah,pretty much!” Dazai laughed while leaning back on his chair. “ You can try as much as you want, pipspeak. It won’t do anything. Even all your strength can’t kill me.”
”So you can basically be used as a meat shield against opponents that only rely on their ability.”
Dazai’s cheerful grin instantly vanished. He didn’t seem very fond of that idea. “Yeah… let’s not do that.”
Haruka left a deeply disappointed sigh.
“But… can I at least use you for target practice to throw my daggers?” He looked Dazai in the eye, with his ultimate weapon: those big, sad, kitten eyes.
And Dazai couldn’t resist them. ”Sure. I don’t mind that much, I guess.” Haruka’s sad kitten eyes just vanished and he fist-bumped the air in victory.
They talked, getting to know Haruka. We learned that Haruka came from a few towns over and that he mostly lived with multiple foster parents, going from home to home.
He also said that he liked fighting and he was really good at it, even without his ability because that’s cheating apparently.
“Most adults ignored me, even when they didn’t know I had an ability.” He sighed, like an eight-year-old going through a midlife crisis. “Adults are so stupid sometimes. They make all these rules and then they don’t even respect them themselves.” He slumped forward, faceplanting into the table.
“Like, they tell me to stay in the shed and to not get out. But then they’d ask me why I hadn't cleaned the dishes like they asked me to.” He put his head in his hand. “They were so freaking stupid.”
Atsushi froze besides him.
“Shed?” Naomi asked, worry audible in her voice.
“Yeah, there was a foster family that let me sleep in their shed.” He answered nonchalantly, like it was the most normal thing in the world. ”The social worker who needed to inspect my new foster homes didn’t care anymore. As long as there was a bed and food, then it was good.”
The room became deadly silent.
“Uh…did I say something wrong?” Haruka, sat back up.
“No Haruka, you didn’t. We just… weren’t expecting that.” Yosano said in a soft voice full of worry. “We just think that it’s good that you’re here now.”
Haruka’s face turned crimson at her words.
“You guys are so corny.” He rumbled while trying to hide his face with his hood.
“But she isn’t lying, Haruka. We truly are happy to have you.” I added. I tried to make my voice sound as genuine as I could, because even after just a day having him, I already felt attached.
Haruka stared down at the table, his face burning even more. “I’m… really happy to have met you guys too.” He mumbled, his voice barely audible.
"Ooh!" Dazai chimed in, leaning forward. “Isn’t our Haruka such a sweetie?”
“I’m not happy to have met you!” Haruka screamed across the table. "You asshole!”
Dazai gasped in mock shock. “Did our little Haruka just curse?! We cannot have that!”
Haruka summoned a swarm of flowers, ready to stab Dazai.
“Haruka.” I said in a stern, authoritative voice.
He canceled his flowers immediately but still shot a glare at Dazai-who was smiling smugly.
“Haruka, I need to go, but you stay here.” I said, turning to hilm. “The others are going to settle you in your room and show you around the agency.
Then, I looked over at the other agency’s members. “You guys look after him and make sure he doesn’t actually stab anyone.” I fixed Dazai with a particularly stern glare. “Under no circumstances are you to leave him alone with Dazai.”
“I can take care of myself!” Haruka pouted, crossing his arms and huffing. “I know you can.” I looked down at him. “But I still don’t want you to be left alone.”
“I won’t be gone too long.” I gave him a final nod;
And with that I walked away from the agency, leaving Haruka with the agency members.